Kamal Ghorui
French tennis entertainer Gael Monfils ended his remarkable career with a valiant first-round showing at the Australian Open on Tuesday, leaving fans at Melbourne Park in awe of his grit and charisma. The 39-year-old, one of the most colorful figures in men’s tennis, fell to Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 in a near four-hour thriller, in a fitting farewell to the tournament he has illuminated for nearly two decades.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Monfils, launching his 20th Australian Open campaign, fought tooth and nail in the opening set, outlasting Sweeny, who is 15 years his junior. Roared on by a partisan crowd, Sweeny staged a comeback in the second set to level the match, capitalising as Monfils began to show signs of fatigue under the glaring Melbourne sun. Bent over double between points, one hand on his knee and the other supporting his racquet, Monfils grimaced and grinned alternately, embodying both struggle and resilience.
A trainer attended to him after the second set, but Monfils returned for the third, only to be broken and lose the set. In a raucous fourth set, he briefly surged to a 4-1 lead before Sweeny pegged him back, eventually sealing victory on his first match point. Sweeny will face American eighth seed Ben Shelton in the second round.Following the match, Monfils received a standing ovation and an on-court presentation. “Somehow it is the finish line, but thank you so much for an amazing ride,” Monfils said. “I have a lot of great memories here.”Monfils, a 13-time ATP title winner who once rose to world No. 6, never captured a Grand Slam but consistently thrilled fans with his athleticism, flair, and sportsmanship. He reached the Australian Open quarter-finals in 2016 and 2022. Off the court, Monfils, married to Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina, is a father to daughter Skai, born in 2022.
